Gun Control Laws - Annotated Bibliography Example

Student’s Name Instructor Course Date Gun Control Laws Introduction The United States has the largest number of people with guns globally with about 270, 000,000 guns in the hands of its citizens (Gius 497). The gun culture that is rampant in that country comes from it revolutionary roots, colonial history, the frontier expansion, as well as the Second Amendment which gives the American citizens the right to bear and keep arms. However, this high number of gun ownership has evidently led to detrimental impacts in America as a high number of suicides, homicides, and gun deaths in general (Gray 76). Following this, there has been a heated debate on whether or not the gun control laws should be stricter or not based on the effects that gun ownership has caused in the United States. Given this background, the paper will argue for the need to have stricter gun control laws in America. Gun Control Laws Stricter gun control laws will certainly lead to the decline of gun deaths that are being witnessed in America. As Gius reports, approximately 464,033 gun deaths have been seen between the year 1999 and the year 2013 (Gius 497). In this number, 9,983 were unintentional deaths, 174,773 were homicides, and 270,237 were suicides (Gius 498). Additionally, the possession of firearms was declared as the 12th leading cause of all the deaths in the country. This shows that with the present Second Amendment which gives people the right to own guns there are increased risks of gun deaths. Following this, these laws need to be stricter in that not every person is allowed to own guns. Also, some strict pre-conditions need to be set like conducting background checks before purchasing ammunition (Gray 76). This will reduce these gun deaths by about 56.9% which means the risks of these killings will be reduced by the same margin (Gius 499). More and stricter gun control laws are urgently needed so that the women can be protected from the stalkers and domestic abusers. About five women get killed daily with guns in America (Harwood 59). The risk of a woman getting killed rises to about 500% if there is the presence of a gun in the midst of a domestic argument (Harwood 67). Since the laws are not strict and do not govern gun ownership in various perspectives, the government does not force the convicted domestic abusers from giving back their guns or ban the convicted stalkers from possessing guns because the law protects them in some way (Harwood 69). Therefore, there need to be more gun control laws as well as stricter enforcement so that women can be out of danger during disputes and from stalkers. One of the primary reasons that the law stipulates which supports gun ownership is that the guns are to be used for self-defense (La Valle 3). However, these guns are seldom utilized for self-defense; instead, they are used to commit violent crimes which put the lives of Americans at risk. In the same light, the same guns are often utilized to commit suicides (LaFollette 34). Since the guns are readily available, it makes it easier for a person to commit suicide as opposed to if they were to use a knife or poison. Having more and stricter gun control laws will aid in preventing the wrong people from owning guns and consequently reducing the rates of violent crimes, suicides, and homicides. The example of strictness may include spelling out permit requirements for gun sales and ownership and imposing bans of selling guns to the minors (LaFollette 39). Gun control laws would lead to a significant reduction in the costs that are as a result of gun violence. Gun violence costs every American citizen about $564 and costs the American government about $5.5 billion which is lost in the form of tax revenue to gun violence (Wheeler and Samuel 19). This is a significant amount of money which can alternatively be used for other developments and help the average American citizens (Wheeler and Samuel 23). America could also emulate other countries like Finland and Switzerland which have had a lot of financial savings due to having restrictive gun control regulations (Lemieux 74). These countries have also witnessed a significant reduction in the suicide and homicide rates as well. Therefore, if America could do the same, then the country would be more at peace while at the same time realize high financial savings. Conclusion America is the country in the world that has the highest number of people owning guns. This is particularly true because the laws that govern gun ownership are not strict and encourage people to own guns. However, these laws need to be rigorous and include more provisions so that there could be lower numbers of suicides, gun violence cases, homicides, women could be safer, and the country to achieve high financial savings. Annotated Bibliography - Gun Control Laws Gius, Mark. "Gun ownership and the gun control index." Atlantic Economic Journal 36.4 (2008): 497-499. In his article, Joseph has taken to give the statistics of gun ownership in the United States. He has also documented about the laws which govern gun ownership in America from a historical background up to the present. Joseph has also highlighted issues to do with gun culture and has made it clear of his support towards the need for more restriction laws concerning gun ownership. This source is written for the gun owners and those who intend to own guns to understand the laws that govern their ownership as well as how the laws may change in future. I will use this source to give a background and context for my research. I will also use it to give the statistical data of gun ownership in America which will strengthen my argument. Gray, Andrew J. An Analysis of State Gun Control Laws and their Effect on Violent Crime. Diss. University of Central Missouri, 2014. Gray places an argument that when there are more gun control laws, the number of gun deaths will decline. He does this through giving statistics of the number of deaths that were caused by guns and how these figures could drop significantly if the gun laws became strict. He also denotes the need for background checks when people are purchasing these guns. I will use this source to spell out how making the gun laws stricter will aid in reducing the gun deaths hence effective in protecting people. I will also use it to document the pre-conditions that need to be included in the laws before purchasing ammunition. Harwood, William S. "Gun Control: State Versus Federal Regulation of Firearms." Maine Policy Review 11.1 (2002): 58-73. Harwood’s article argues how the gun control laws protect women from stalkers and domestic abusers. He also denotes that the risk of a woman being killed rises if there is the presence of a gun in a domestic dispute. He, therefore, advocates for stricter gun control laws to keep the women safer. I will use this source to place my argument from the women’s protection perspective which is usually overlooked. This source will strengthen my argument by creating an emotional appeal to my audience. La Valle, James M. "Gun control” vs.“self-protection”: A case against the ideological divide." Justice Policy Journal 10.1 (2013): 1-26. The authors of the article argue that guns are usually not used for self-defense as is the common reason as to why people own guns. The document that the gun control laws not being stricter in ensuring the guns are used for the intended purpose lead to high numbers of violent crimes. Therefore, the authors statistically document that the gun control laws need to be harsher to reduce guns being used for the wrong reasons. I will use this source to give an example of how guns are being misused because of not having strict gun control laws. The source will also strengthen my research on the parameters of strengthening these laws. LaFollette, Hugh. "Controlling guns." Criminal Justice Ethics 20.1 (2001): 34-39. Suicides are one of the most frequent impacts of having reluctant gun control laws. Hugh has given the statistics on how firearm-related suicides have been rampant and how the law plays a significant role in reducing or eliminating this. The author has acknowledged that state regulation can be a major barrier to the access of firearms which will decrease the number of firearm suicides. I will use this source to argue that there needs to some bans and permit requirements when selling guns to minors. I will also argue that when guns are made unavailable, suicide numbers will reduce since it is harder to commit suicide with poison or knife as compared to the guns. Lemieux, Frederic. "Effect of gun culture and firearm laws on gun violence and mass shootings in the United States: A multi-level quantitative analysis." International Journal of Criminal Justice Sciences 9.1 (2014): 74. Frederic gives an account on how other countries which have some strict gun control laws have had lower numbers of gun homicide and other gun vices as compared to America. The article has spelled out some of these countries as examples to show the effectiveness of having stricter gun control laws. Also, the author has found that there is a clear link to a high number of homicides with increased gun availability. I will use the source to give examples of countries where stricter gun control laws have worked which America can emulate. I will also use the source to substantiate my paper which will show the practicability of my argument. Wheeler III, Samuel C. "Gun violence and fundamental rights." Criminal Justice Ethics 20.1 (2001): 19-24. The authors argue that having stricter gun control laws will reduce the societal costs which are linked to gun violence. The article documents the high costs that gun violence costs every person in the US as well as the government. The paper has given the clear and numerical economic savings that are linked to having strict gun control laws. Acknowledging that when financial savings are involved more people will react appropriately to recommendations, I will use the source to adopt an economic perspective in advocating for stricter gun control laws. Works Cited Gius, Mark. "Gun ownership and the gun control index." Atlantic Economic Journal 36.4 (2008): 497-499. Gray, Andrew J. An Analysis of State Gun Control Laws and their Effect on Violent Crime. Diss. University of Central Missouri, 2014. Harwood, William S. "Gun Control: State Versus Federal Regulation of Firearms." Maine Policy Review 11.1 (2002): 58-73. La Valle, James M. "Gun control” vs.“self-protection”: A case against the ideological divide." Justice Policy Journal 10.1 (2013): 1-26. LaFollette, Hugh. "Controlling guns." Criminal Justice Ethics 20.1 (2001): 34-39. Lemieux, Frederic. "Effect of gun culture and firearm laws on gun violence and mass shootings in the United States: A multi-level quantitative analysis." International Journal of Criminal Justice Sciences 9.1 (2014): 74. Wheeler III, Samuel C. "Gun violence and fundamental rights." Criminal Justice Ethics 20.1 (2001): 19-24. Read More